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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26134084">Tomato Soup</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toothlessturtle21/pseuds/Toothlessturtle21'>Toothlessturtle21</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Zangst Collection (Ninjago) [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lego Ninjago</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Author Projecting Time, Bad Parenting, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Financial Issues, Gen, Hypoglycemia, Intervention, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Robot ethics, zangst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:53:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26134084</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toothlessturtle21/pseuds/Toothlessturtle21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zane loved to eat, until his father decided that the budget couldn't quite feed a family of two.<br/>...<br/>Zane used to love to eat.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cole &amp; Zane (Ninjago), Jay Walker &amp; Zane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Zangst Collection (Ninjago) [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1468231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>118</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Tomato Soup</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>No, this isn't me projecting my issues with food onto a character that doesn't even need to eat, no way</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zane's earliest memory of food being an issue to him was when he was barely even a year old. His father sat at the table, hunched over brass and copper coins, occasionally glancing at his son with a slightly worried expression. Zane was busy sorting their books, the task having kept him busy for the better part of the last two hours while his father said he had some "grown-up things" to worry about. Eventually, his father called out to him.</p><p>"Zane?" His father asked, voice strained. "What food do you have cataloged in our pantry?"</p><p>"Three cans of tomato soup, two sleeves of crackers, various spices, and one box of penne pasta. Speaking of which, I am getting rather peckish, I think I will go have some of the-"</p><p>Zane went to stand to go towards the cupboard to grab a sleeve crackers when his father stopped him.</p><p>"No!"</p><p>The android froze, recoiling a little in surprise as his father stood as well.</p><p>"Father, is everything alright?"</p><p>Julien smiled wearily, gently tugging on Zane's arm to move him back towards the workshop.</p><p>"Of course, Zane. Everything is just fine."</p><p>"Then why are we going back into the workshop? You only bring me back for repairs if something is wrong," Zane stated before a different train of thought hit him and he jerked away. "D- Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I was not efficient enough when I was organizing the books, I'll do better, I promise!"</p><p>"Stop fussing, you don't need to worry," His father consoled him, but Zane still dug his heels in enough to make his hesitation known. "You will be fine, I promise."</p><p>Zane was still stammering as he was pushed down onto the workbench and was powered off, world fading away as his mind still panicked.</p><p>...</p><p>Zane blinked, his eyes adjusting to the light. He shot up straight, the memories of what happened right before his repairs making him quickly check his vitals for information.</p><p>
  <strong>Energy: 78%</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Hydraulic Fluid: 89%</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Vision: 100%</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Audio: 100%</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Hunger: -</strong>
</p><p>Zane blinked, and tried again to access his hunger. Nothing. He looked over at his father, who looked slightly guilty but overall relieved.</p><p>"Why can't I access my hunger level?" Zane tried to ask with a level voice, but it ended up coming out choked. Julien shook his head.</p><p>"Don't worry about it, Zane."</p><p>And so he didn't. If his father wasn't concerned, then why should he be?</p><p>He tried to eat a cracker afterwards just to test what he believed his father had done to him, and he held back tears as what used to be a salty treat felt like cardboard melting in his mouth. He closed the sleeve, and set it back on the counter, resuming his task of organizing the library, but this time the actions felt a little more hollow.</p><p>So he watched as his father ate his soup and crackers, and just had to sit there and pretend to smile as he remembered how he used to enjoy the flavors dancing upon his tongue.</p>
<hr/><p>Zane was relaxing on his own bunk in the Monastery reading a rather good book when Cole gently knocked at the door, Jay poking his head out from behind the taller's back. Sensei Wu had set out to find something or other, leaving the three behind to their own devices while he was gone.</p><p>"Uh, Zane? You doing ok?" Cole started, eyebrows furrowed in worry.</p><p>"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"</p><p>"Well, uh," Jay stuttered, and Zane merely blinked as his friend tried to figure out his words. "Cole and I were talking, and we both realized that we couldn't remember you actually ever eating in front of us. Or at all."</p><p>"We're not mad or anything!" Cole was quick to butt in before Zane could speak, hoping to prevent any misunderstandings. "We just want to make sure you're not starving yourself or anything, because that would be really bad."</p><p>Zane stared in confusion, wracking his brain for anything to respond with.</p><p>"Why would me not eating be bad?"</p><p>"You could die!" Jay sputtered, and Zane felt some sort of sick feeling start to brew in his gut. "Please, just tell us if something's wrong, you can trust us, right?"</p><p>"I do trust you," Zane answered, for that he knew for certain. Cole and Jay looked like they were about to cry, and Cole reached out to gently tug Zane off his bunk. He was sandwiched in a hug between the two, Jay clinging to his front while Cole mirrored him from the back.</p><p>"Please, just eat something," Jay pleaded quietly, and Zane was incredibly unsure of how to respond besides a simple nod and a gentle hand rubbing at his friend's back to soothe him. Cole buried his head in Zane's shoulder, which wasn't hard since he was slightly taller than the blonde.</p><p>"I would prefer not to..." Zane began, but trailed off as Cole squeezed him tighter.</p><p>"I don't know what's going through your head right now Zane, and I don't need to know, but we're here for you. You don't need to change for anyone, yeah? Besides, you need the energy to train anyway."</p><p>Zane nodded along despite not knowing that they were talking about, but he could infer that whatever it was was a very serious issue. So he held his friends as they dragged him to the kitchen for him to choke down a granola bar, which seemed to calm them down enough where they stopped clinging onto him, but not enough where they wanted to leave him alone.</p>
<hr/><p>When Zane and his brothers sat pouring over their jar of coins to pay their rent, Zane felt a gross feeling return to his stomach. They had resorted to buying sandwiches from a shop a few blocks over because they never had enough money at one time to buy enough groceries to support them, so single servings seemed to be the most viable option.</p><p>Since discovering his android origins, Zane had discovered how to turn his taste back on, and had also figured out that eating did give him an energy boost, but never his hunger. So he ate mostly as an extra, something that was nice, but not necessary. So it was no surprise that when it came time to order dinner, Zane shook his head denied needing anything.</p><p>The ninja took his word for it, and weeks went by with Zane only eating by stealing scraps from the restaurant he worked at to keep his energy up as much as he could, but even he could feel his performance slipping as his body was forced to run on low amounts of power. More of his blood was staying in his core to run his heart, leaving him pale and shaky, and his eyelids felt perpetually heavy, like they were being held down by weights that kept increasing by the day.</p><p>The issue reached its apex, however, during a quick training session he had managed to sneak in with Lloyd between shifts. They were sparring, the android of course not using all of his skills on the child, but he could tell something was <em>off</em>. Zane was stumbling, his footing unsure and his blocks were sloppy. Before he knew it, he was on the floor, and Lloyd was shaking his shoulders out of fear before running out of the room to call Jay, the android's vision fading around the edges.</p><p>He tried to sit up, but doing so made his head spin and his gut curdle with nausea, so he curled up into a ball to ease the ache, eyes squeezed shut before he blacked out in the middle of the training room floor.</p><p>...</p><p>When he opened his eyes once more, Jay was worriedly peering down at him.</p><p>"You awake?"</p><p>Zane nodded slowly, and he felt something being nudged at the corner of his lips.</p><p>"Eat this."</p><p>Zane tried to look over the best he could, and to his morbid amusement, it was another one of the granola bars that Jay loved to force upon him.</p><p>"You just passed out from the robot equivalent of low blood sugar, you gotta eat something buddy. I'll grab you some fruit juice or something in a bit. It helps humans, so it's worth a shot on you."</p><p>Zane slowly sat up and backed against the wall for support, and methodically chewed the snack with measured bites, Jay texting something to someone quickly before putting his phone away to sit across from the Ice Ninja.</p><p>Once Zane was done eating, Jay decided to strike up the conversation that the two knew was coming.</p><p>"Zane, you gotta eat. I know the first time Cole and I thought something was up it was just because you didn't need to eat, but your body isn't used to this. You're hurting yourself."</p><p>"Just let me adjust to it, and I'll be fine."</p><p>"No, I'm not letting you do that. You're eating with the rest of us and that's final. Kai's dropping off a carton of apple juice in a bit, and we're getting food tonight. You're going to rest, because I'm not letting you pass out while training again. What if you had done that on a mission?"</p><p>Zane had no answer, and nodded his head meekly as a sign that he understood. Jay stood, and held out his hand, Zane accepting the invitation to stand, also very grateful that Jay didn't mention how he stumbled upon landing on his feet.</p><p>"Y'need to trust your body more, you're getting too caught up in your own head," Jay said softly as he sat Zane down on the couch, sitting down next to him with a slight bounce. "You're not a burden by needing to eat, buddy."</p><p>The android sighed, and rested his head on Jay's shoulder, his eyes still burning and his mind quickly following suit.</p><p>"Alright, you can use me as a pillow," The Lightning Ninja smirked, and wrapped an arm around Zane's waist. "I'm waking you up when Kai gets here, but then you can go back to bed, ok?"</p><p>Zane nodded sleepily before fully relaxing into his friend, exhaustion taking ahold of him with an iron grip as he fell asleep, Jay keeping him warm all the while.</p>
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